Judges No Longer Need To Stop Federal Law Clerks From Applying To ‘Political’ Jobs While Clerking

Back in September, the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Codes of Conduct published an advisory opinion concerning judicial employees’ political activities. At the time, judges were encouraged to curtail law clerks from applying to post-clerkship political jobs while working for the federal court system, as such job searches could “risk[] linking the judge’s chambers to political activity, which could compromise the independence of the judiciary.” Six months later, now that Trump is back in the White House, that judicial ethics opinion is looking pretty relaxed.

Late last week, the judicial panel modified its advisory opinion, and as noted by Reuters, it’s much more lenient:

[O]n Friday, the committee, which is tasked with providing judges and judicial employees guidance on ethical issues, took a less strict view of such employment, saying it only “may pose such a risk” under “some circumstances.”

“Ultimately, the appointing judge retains discretion to assess this risk and to impose restrictions or limitations, if any,” the new ethics guidance advised.

The committee said that assessments of those risks should now be made on a “case-by-case basis in full consideration of all the facts, circumstances, and potential risks involved, underscoring the importance that the judge, as the law clerk’s appointing authority, should be completely informed.”

This is a pretty significant walking back of the committee’s ethics rule during a time when judicial ethics may matter more than they ever have before. But then again, who’s to say that a judge wouldn’t be threatened with possible impeachment if word got out that they prevented a clerk from applying to a post-clerkship political job? Because of the unprecedented times we live in, anything is possible.

US judiciary relaxes ethics standard on clerks seeking political jobs [Reuters]

Earlier: Federal Law Clerks Barred From Applying To ‘Political’ Jobs While Clerking

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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